Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

ABSTRACT

A vehicle control device includes a controller configured to control an actuator and generate state information representing a state of the actuator, a request arbitration unit configured to arbitrate requests from a plurality of application execution units, and a request generation unit configured to generate a drive request signal to the controller. The controller includes a detection unit configured to detect whether or not the request arbitration unit is abnormal, a first transmission unit configured to transmit the state information to the request arbitration unit, and a second transmission unit configured to, when the detection unit detects that the request arbitration unit is abnormal, transmit the state information to the application execution units such that the state information does not pass through the request arbitration unit.

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 17/410,392 filed Aug. 24,2021, which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 16/419,390 filedMay 22, 2019 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,126,488 issued on Sep. 21, 2021),which in turn claims priority to Japanese Application No. 2018-161523filed Aug. 30, 2018. The entire disclosures of the prior applicationsare hereby incorporated by reference herein their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a vehiclecontrol method that control movement of a vehicle.

2. Description of Related Art

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-096619 (JP2012-096619 A) describes a vehicle lateral movement control system thatcontrols lateral movement of a vehicle by driving actuators respectivelyprovided in a front steering, a rear steering, and a brake. In thesystem described in JP 2012-096619 A, availability representing acontrollable range of each actuator is acquired, an F/F request valuefor feedforward control of each actuator and an F/B request value forfeedback control of each actuator are calculated using the acquiredavailability, and a mechanism to be a control target and a controlamount to be finally generated in the mechanism are decided based on thecalculated F/F request value and F/B request value.

SUMMARY

In recent years, with an increase in the number of driving assistancefunctions to be mounted in the vehicle, processing that is executed bythe actuator on requests from a plurality of applications becomescomplicated. Accordingly, a system configuration in which an arbitrationfunction unit configured to relay transmission and reception of signalsbetween a plurality of applications and a plurality of actuators andarbitrate the requests from the applications is provided in the vehicle,and a state of each actuator is fed back to each application through thearbitration function unit is considered.

However, in the system configuration, when the arbitration function unitfails, it is not possible to feed back the state of each actuator to theapplication.

For this reason, the disclosure provides a vehicle control device and avehicle control method capable of reliably feeding back a state of anactuator to application execution units that implement drivingassistance functions.

A first aspect of the disclosure relates to a vehicle control device.The vehicle control device includes a controller, a request arbitrationunit, and a request generation unit. The controller is configured tocontrol an actuator and generate state information representing a stateof the actuator. The actuator is configured to operate a vehicle, basedon requests from a plurality of application execution units configuredto control movement of the vehicle. The request arbitration unit isconfigured to receive request signals from the application executionunits and arbitrate the requests from the application execution unitsbased on the received request signals. The request generation unit isconfigured to generate a drive request signal to the controller based onan arbitration result of the request arbitration unit. The requestarbitration unit includes a state information receiver and a stateinformation output unit. The state information receiver is configured toreceive the state information from the controller. The state informationoutput unit is configured to output the state information received bythe state information receiver to the application execution units. Thecontroller includes a detection unit, a first transmission unit, and asecond transmission unit. The detection unit is configured to detectwhether or not the request arbitration unit is abnormal. The firsttransmission unit is configured to transmit the state information to therequest arbitration unit. The second transmission unit is configured to,when the detection unit detects that the request arbitration unit isabnormal, transmit the state information to the application executionunits such that the state information does not pass through the requestarbitration unit.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, it is possible toreliably feed back the state information of the actuator to theapplication execution units regardless of an operation state of therequest arbitration unit.

In the vehicle control device according to the first aspect, when thecontroller determines that the actuator is in a specific failure state,the second transmission unit may transmit the state information to theapplication execution units such that the state information does notpass through the request arbitration unit.

According to the first aspect of the disclosure, when the specificfailure state occurs in the actuator, it is possible to promptly feedback the state information of the actuator to the application executionunits, and to suppress signal delay.

In the vehicle control device according to the first aspect, when thecontroller determines that the actuator is not in a specific failurestate, the first transmission unit may transmit the state information tothe request arbitration unit.

A second aspect of the disclosure relates to a vehicle control method.The vehicle control method includes controlling an actuator andgenerating state information representing a state of the actuator. Theactuator is configured to operate a vehicle, based on requests from aplurality of application execution units configured to control movementof the vehicle. The vehicle control method includes detecting whether ornot a request arbitration unit is abnormal, the request arbitration unitbeing configured to receive request signals from the applicationexecution units and arbitrate requests from the application executionunits based on the received request signals, when detection is made thatthe request arbitration unit is abnormal, transmitting the stateinformation representing the state of the actuator to the applicationexecution units such that the state information does not pass throughthe request arbitration unit, and when detection is made that therequest arbitration unit is not abnormal, transmitting the stateinformation representing the state of the actuator to the requestarbitration unit.

According to the aspects of the disclosure, it is possible to provide avehicle control device and a vehicle control method capable of reliablyfeeding back a state of an actuator to application execution units thatimplement driving assistance functions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle control deviceaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a request arbitration unit shownin FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a controller shown in FIG. 1 ;and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control processing that is executed by thecontroller shown in FIG. 1 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Outline

The vehicle control device according to the first aspect of thedisclosure includes the request arbitration unit configured to arbitratethe requests from the application execution units between theapplication execution units configured to implement driving assistancefunctions and the controller configured to control the actuator. Thecontroller configured to control the actuator feeds back informationindicating the state of the actuator to the application execution unitsthrough the request arbitration unit when the request arbitration unitoperates normally, and directly feeds back information indicating thestate of the actuator to the application execution units when therequest arbitration unit is abnormal. Accordingly, it is possible toreliably feed back the state of the actuator to the applicationexecution units that implement the driving assistance functions,regardless of the operation state of the request arbitration unit.

Embodiment

Configuration

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle control deviceaccording to the embodiment. In FIG. 1 , solid arrows representtransmission paths of request signals from a plurality of applicationexecution units 5 to actuators 4, and broken arrows represent feedbackpaths of signals from the actuators 4 to the application execution units5.

A vehicle control device 10 is a device that controls the actuators 4 inthe vehicle based on requests from the application execution units 5.The application execution units 5 are devices that execute applicationsfor implementing driving assistance functions of the vehicle, such asautonomous driving, automatic parking, adaptive cruise control, lanekeeping assistance, and collision reduction braking, and are typicallyimplemented by electronic control units (ECUs). The applicationexecution units 5 may execute applications simultaneously according todriving assistance functions to be used. In FIG. 1 , for simplificationof description, although three application execution units 5 are shown,the number of application execution units 5 that implement the drivingassistance functions is not limited, and two or less or four or moreapplication execution units 5 may be mounted in the vehicle. Theapplication execution units 5 output request signals for operating theactuators 4 to a request arbitration unit 1 described below. Theactuators 4 are drive mechanisms for operating a powertrain (referred toas a drive train), a brake device, a steering device, and the like, andare controlled by controllers 3 described below.

The vehicle control device 10 includes the request arbitration unit 1,request generation units 2, and the controllers 3.

The request arbitration unit 1 receives the request signals output fromthe application execution units 5 and selects one request signal fromamong the received request signals based on a predetermined selectioncriterion, thereby arbitrating the requests from the applicationexecution units 5.

Each request generation unit 2 generates drive requests to the actuators4 based on an arbitration result of the request arbitration unit 1, thatis, the request signal selected by the request arbitration unit 1 andoutputs the generated drive requests to the controller 3.

Each controller 3 is an ECU that controls the actuators 4. In theexample of FIG. 1 , although one controller 3 controls one or twoactuators 4, the number of actuators to be controlled by the controller3 may be three or more.

The request arbitration unit 1, the request generation units 2, thecontrollers 3, the actuators 4, and the application execution units 5are connected to perform communication through a communication network,and as shown in FIG. 1 , as a feedback path of a signal from theactuator 4 to the application execution unit 5, a first feedback pathalong which the signal is transmitted to the application execution unit5 by way of the request arbitration unit 1, and a second feedback pathalong which the signal is transmitted directly to the applicationexecution unit 5 not by way of the request arbitration unit 1 areprovided. Details of the two feedback paths will be described below. Acommunication network that connects the actuators 4 and the applicationexecution units 5 through the request arbitration unit 1 and acommunication network that directly connects the actuators 4 and theapplication execution units 5 may be the same or different.

In the example of FIG. 1 , although an example where the vehicle controldevice 10 includes three request generation units 2 and threecontrollers 3 has been described, the number of request generation units2 and the number of controllers 3 are not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, the detailed configurations of the request arbitration unit1 and the controller 3 will be described referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 .

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the request arbitration unitshown in FIG. 1 .

The request arbitration unit 1 includes an arbitration processing unit11, a state information receiver 12, and a state information output unit13.

The arbitration processing unit 11 receives the request signals from theapplication execution units 5 and executes arbitration processing, thatis, processing for selecting one request signal from among the receivedrequest signals.

The state information receiver 12 receives state informationrepresenting a state of the actuator 4 from the controller 3. The stateinformation is information representing whether the actuator 4 is normalor fails, and is acquired or generated by the controller 3 that controlsthe actuator 4. When the actuator 4 fails, the state informationincludes information representing a failure mode of the actuator 4, thatis, a failure state into which the actuator 4 is brought. When thefailure mode of the actuator 4 is included in the state information, theapplication execution unit 5 that receives the state information candistinguish between a drive request that can give an instruction to theactuator 4 in the failure state and a drive request that cannot give aninstruction to the actuator 4.

The state information output unit 13 outputs the state informationreceived by the state information receiver 12 to the applicationexecution unit 5, thereby performing feedback of the state of theactuator 4.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the controller shown in FIG. 1 .

Each of the controllers 3 includes a detection unit 19, a stateacquisition unit 20, a first transmission unit 21, and a secondtransmission unit 22.

The detection unit 19 detects whether or not the request arbitrationunit 1 is abnormal. A determination method of the detection unit 19regarding an abnormality in the request arbitration unit 1 is notparticularly limited, and for example, an abnormality may be determinedwhen information representing that the request arbitration unit 1 isabnormal is received from the request arbitration unit 1, an abnormalitymay be determined when the request signal or a response signal from therequest arbitration unit 1 cannot be detected for a predetermined time,or an abnormality may be determined when the drive request received fromthe request generation unit 2 is not normal.

The state acquisition unit 20 detects the state of the actuator 4 andgenerates the state information representing the state of the actuator4. For example, the state acquisition unit 20 determines whether or notthe state of the actuator 4 is normal based on a response signal outputfrom the actuator 4 in response to a drive signal output to the actuator4 or output of the actuator 4 or sensors provided near the actuator 4,and when determination is made that the actuator 4 fails, specifies afailure state (failure mode). The state acquisition unit 20 generatesthe state information including a determination result of the state ofthe actuator 4 and the specified failure mode.

The first transmission unit 21 transmits the state information generatedby the state acquisition unit 20 to the request arbitration unit 1. Thestate information transmitted to the request arbitration unit 1 by thefirst transmission unit 21 is output from the state information outputunit 13 of the request arbitration unit 1 to the application executionunit 5. A path along which the state information is transmitted from thefirst transmission unit 21 to the application execution unit 5 by way ofthe request arbitration unit 1 corresponds to the above-described firstfeedback path.

When the detection unit 19 determines that the request arbitration unit1 is abnormal or when determination is made that the actuator 4 is in aspecific failure state, the second transmission unit 22 transmits thestate information generated by the state acquisition unit 20 to theapplication execution unit 5 such that the state information does notpass through the request arbitration unit 1. The specific failure stateof the actuator 4 refers to a state in which failure to such a degree asneeded for prompt transition of the vehicle to a safe state occurs. Apath along which the state information is transmitted from the secondtransmission unit 22 to the application execution unit 5 not by way ofthe request arbitration unit 1 corresponds to the above-described secondfeedback path.

Control Processing

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control processing that is executed by thecontroller shown in FIG. 1 . The control processing of FIG. 4 is startedwhen a start switch of the vehicle is on, and is repeatedly executeduntil the operation of the vehicle is off.

Step S1: The detection unit 19 determines whether or not the requestarbitration unit 1 is abnormal. When the determination of Step S1 ismade to be YES, the process progresses to Step S4, and otherwise, theprocess progresses to Step S2.

Step S2: The state acquisition unit 20 determines whether or not theactuator 4 fails. When the determination of Step S2 is made to be YES,the process progresses to Step S3, and otherwise, the process progressesto Step S5.

Step S3: The state acquisition unit 20 determines whether or not theactuator 4 is in the specific failure state. When the determination ofStep S3 is made to be YES, the process progresses to Step S4, andotherwise, the process progresses to Step S5.

Step S4: The second transmission unit 22 directly transmits the stateinformation of the actuator 4 to the application execution unit 5.Thereafter, the process progresses to Step S1.

Step S5: The first transmission unit 21 transmits the state informationof the actuator 4 to the request arbitration unit 1. Thereafter, theprocess progresses to Step S1. When the state information receiver 12receives the state information transmitted from the first transmissionunit 21, the request arbitration unit 1 outputs the state informationreceived by the state information output unit 13 to the applicationexecution unit 5.

Effects and the Like

In the vehicle control device 10 according to the first aspect of thedisclosure, the request arbitration unit 1 is provided between theapplication execution units 5 that operates the actuators 4 to implementthe driving assistance functions and the controllers 3 of the actuators4. The request arbitration unit 1 has a function of relayingtransmission and reception of the signals between the applicationexecution units 5 and the controllers 3, and arbitrating the requestsfrom the application execution units 5. The request arbitration unit 1is provided, whereby, even though the number of application executionunits 5 that implement the driving assistance functions increases, it ispossible to restrain control inference to the actuators 4, and tosuppress complication of the signal paths between the applicationexecution units 5 and the actuators 4.

Note that, in a configuration in which transmission and reception of allsignals between the application execution units 5 and the actuators 4are performed by way of the request arbitration unit 1, when anabnormality, such as failure, occurs in the request arbitration unit 1,it is not possible to feed back the state information of the actuator 4to the application execution unit 5, and controllability may bedeteriorated. When failure to such a degree as needed for transition ofthe vehicle to a safe state occurs in the actuator 4, it is desirable totransmit the state information of the actuator 4 to the applicationexecution unit 5 without delay such that the vehicle can be quicklycontrolled to the safe state. Although it is considered that the stateinformation of the actuator 4 is constantly directly transmitted to theapplication execution unit 5, in this case, an increase in load on acommunication infrastructure is caused by signals from many actuators 4mounted in the vehicle.

In the vehicle control device 10 according to the first aspect of thedisclosure, during a normal time, the state information of the actuator4 is transmitted from the first transmission unit 21 to the applicationexecution unit 5 through the request arbitration unit 1. However, whendetermination is made that the request arbitration unit 1 is abnormal orwhen determination is made that the actuator 4 is in the specificfailure state, the second transmission unit 22 directly transmits thestate information from the actuator 4 to the application execution unit5 such that the state information does not pass through the requestarbitration unit 1. According to the first aspect of the disclosure,even though an abnormality occurs in the request arbitration unit 1, itis possible to reliably feed back of the state information of theactuator 4 to the application execution unit 5. When the actuator 4 isbrought into the specific failure state to such a degree as needed forquick transition to the safe state, the state information of theactuator 4 is directly transmitted to the application execution unit 5such that the state information of the actuator 4 does not pass throughthe request arbitration unit 1, whereby it is possible to avoid delay ofsignal transmission. Since the direct feedback of the state informationfrom the actuator 4 to the application execution unit 5 is limited asbeing performed under a specific condition, it is possible to minimizean increase in load on the communication infrastructure.

OTHER MODIFICATION EXAMPLES

In the first aspect, although, when detection is made that the actuator4 is in the specific failure state, the second transmission unit 22directly feeds back the state information to the application executionunit 5, when the request arbitration unit 1 is not abnormal, similarlyto the normal time, the first transmission unit 21 may feed back thestate information to the application execution unit 5 by way of therequest arbitration unit 1. Note that, as in the first aspect, eventhough detection is made that the actuator 4 is in the specific failurestate, it is desirable that the second transmission unit 22 directlyfeeds back the state information to the application execution unit 5since it is possible to further suppress delay of transmission of thestate information.

The disclosure can be used as a vehicle control device that controls avehicle mounted with a driving assistance function.

What is claimed is:
 1. A control system mounted on a vehicle comprising:a request arbitration unit configured to receive requests fromapplication execution units that implement driving assistance functionsof the vehicle, the request arbitration unit being configured toarbitrate the requests; and a controller configured to control anactuator that operates the vehicle based on an arbitration result of therequest arbitration unit, the controller being configured to outputstate information representing a state of the actuator to theapplication execution units such that the state information does notpass through the request arbitration unit.
 2. The control systemaccording to claim 1, wherein when the controller determines that therequest arbitration unit is not abnormal, the controller is configuredto output the state information to the application execution units byway of the request arbitration unit, when the controller determines thatthe request arbitration unit is abnormal, the controller is configuredto output the state information to the application execution units suchthat the state information does not pass through the request arbitrationunit.
 3. A control system mounted on a vehicle comprising: a requestgeneration unit configured to receive requests from applicationexecution units that implement driving assistance functions of thevehicle, the request generation unit being configured to arbitrate therequests and generate drive request to an actuator that operates thevehicle; and a controller configured to control the actuator based on anarbitration result of the request generation unit, the controller beingconfigured to output state information representing a state of theactuator to the application execution units such that the stateinformation does not pass through the request generation unit.
 4. Thecontrol system according to claim 3, wherein when the controllerdetermines that the request generation unit is not abnormal, thecontroller is configured to output the state information to theapplication execution units by way of the request generation unit, whenthe controller determines that the request generation unit is abnormal,the controller is configured to output the state information to theapplication execution units such that the state information does notpass through the request generation unit.
 5. A vehicle control methodcomprising: receiving, by a request arbitration unit, requests fromapplication execution units that implement driving assistance functionsof the vehicle; arbitrating the requests by the request arbitrationunit; controlling, by a controller, an actuator that operates a vehiclebased on an arbitration result of the request arbitration unit; andoutputting, by the controller, state information representing a state ofthe actuator to the application execution units such that the stateinformation does not pass through the request arbitration unit.
 6. Thevehicle control method according to claim 5, wherein when the controllerdetermines that the request arbitration unit is not abnormal, thecontroller is configured to output the state information to theapplication execution units by way of the request arbitration unit, whenthe controller determines that the request arbitration unit is abnormal,the controller is configured to output the state information to theapplication execution units such that the state information does notpass through the request arbitration unit.
 7. A vehicle control methodcomprising: receiving, by a request generation unit, requests fromapplication execution units that implement driving assistance functionsof the vehicle; arbitrating the requests by the request generation unit;generating drive request to an actuator that operates a vehicle by therequest generation unit; controlling, by a controller, the actuatorbased on an arbitration result of the request generation unit; andoutputting, by the controller, state information representing a state ofthe actuator to the application execution units such that the stateinformation does not pass through the request generation unit.
 8. Thevehicle control method according to claim 7, wherein when the controllerdetermines that the request generation unit is not abnormal, thecontroller is configured to output the state information to theapplication execution units by way of the request generation unit, whenthe controller determines that the request generation unit is abnormal,the controller is configured to output the state information to theapplication execution units such that the state information does notpass through the request generation unit.